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Phase I of Alpha Two testing will occur on weekends. Each weekend is scheduled to start on Fridays at 10 AM PT and end on Sundays at 10 PM PT. Find out more here.
Check out Alpha Two Announcements here to see the latest Alpha Two news and update notes.
Our quickest Alpha Two updates are in Discord. Testers with Alpha Two access can chat in Alpha Two channels by connecting your Discord and Intrepid accounts here.
Ranger feedback
Snekkers
Member, Alpha Two
Hi,
I decided to remove my previous post about the ranger and write separate posts for bows and the archetype. Over the last weekend, many of my opinions changed after reaching and playing as a level 25 ranger.
Currently, most of the spells don't seem connected with each other, as opposed to the mage or fighter classes. A unifying mechanic would make the ranger feel more cohesive and engaging.
I decided to remove my previous post about the ranger and write separate posts for bows and the archetype. Over the last weekend, many of my opinions changed after reaching and playing as a level 25 ranger.
Ranger Kit and Fantasy
I really like the ranger's kit; it creates a compelling ranger fantasy that, with the correct approach, allows for both DPS and burst-type gameplay. Initially, I thought the ranger was lacking in damage, but I was wrong. The ranger's damage is totally fine, and if you manage to land a free opener on the enemy, you will often win the fight. Ranger mobility is also decent, if you utilize your abilities well it does feel like the most mobile class as of now. Hunt, mark and ammo create interesting choice when designing your build. My one problem with marks is that they create very small window for 8s, with long 60s cooldown, so I don't think they should be able to miss.
Issues with Snipe as an Opener
The problem lies with the opener itself—Snipe. Snipe casts for over 3 seconds, which is acceptable for the fantasy, but it has issues. Currently, it's super easy for enemies to either interrupt it or just cut the line of sight. Getting the bonus crit from 20 meters away is incredibly tough when the enemy is not AFK. Another issue is that a mage can burst a target from 100 to 0 faster than a ranger can cast Snipe. This isn't just about Snipe's cast time, but the cast time does play a significant role here. It's also an issue of the mage having too high single-target damage, which I hope will be addressed. Lastly snipe is bread and butter long cast time spell, in my opinion it should have much lower chance of missing the target.
Proposed Improvements to Snipe
My proposition is to add some slow movement to Snipe and reduce its cast time. This would make it more viable in combat situations and less susceptible to interruption, enhancing the ranger's ability to effectively open fights.
Lack of a Core Mechanic
Another problem I have with the ranger is that it lacks an interesting core mechanic. I like the mark dynamic and the selection of ammo, but these are just self-buffs or enemy debuffs. I would love to see a core mechanic that ties all the skills together. For example, introducing a stacking "Instinct" resource that interacts with other abilities and includes a skill that removes this resource and turns you into a primal hunter against a marked target. This mechanic would grant you strong buffs against the marked target, adding depth and strategy to gameplay. But that is just my idea.Currently, most of the spells don't seem connected with each other, as opposed to the mage or fighter classes. A unifying mechanic would make the ranger feel more cohesive and engaging.
Spell Range and Weapon Synergy
Lastly, I think ranger spell ranges should scale with the ranged weapon's range. This would make different ranger weapon ranges feel better and match the ranger fantasy more closely. It would also make the builds of a skirmisher DPS ranger versus a long-range sniper more pronounced, offering players meaningful choices in how they develop their character. In my opinion standing on the ledges and sniping ppl from afar should be strictly tied to a longbow gameplay.
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By addressing these points, we can enhance the ranger archetype to be more dynamic, engaging, and true to its fantasy, making it a more exciting option for players who enjoy this playstyle. 5
Comments
Why should they address this when the mage is one of the squishiest classes? Why would anyone choose a low-HP class with limited mobility aside from Blink, which deals mediocre DPS? The mage deals high DPS because its other traits are low.
It's okay to buff ranger, but let the mage alone.
Ranger seems to be pretty fair vs other classes, sure, some beat him, but it seems fair, mage gets 2k health shield (which makes him tankier than ranger), does insane aoe damage and also bursts ranger before he can even cast snipe, its not fair. And its not just rangers that are getting popped by mage
Because this is a PvP-oriented game, AoE in PvP is very situational (like in corridors and similar settings). All DPS classes should have strong single-target DPS; otherwise, they would be in a very weak position for PvP, specially in low-player PvP. Mages have always had good single-target DPS in most MMORPGs because, without it, they would be a low-tier class.
VS Mage, Ranger has more HP, more mobility, more or less same CC, is fine that mage has more DPS, specially when is a caster.
I honestly don't understand why in a post about Ranger feedback you're asking to nerf other classes.
Ranger do have more hp yes however it seems with the barrier they have they actually end up with more overall it seems from what ive seen. Mages do for what ever reason like to strickly wear cloth armor which does make them weak to physical attack where ranger like to wear leather for what ever reason which makes them adverage at both dmg types
as for mobility mages actually have more tbh it seems, there blink is longer range than disengage and they both have same cooldown but then u have ranger skills like locking them in place where mages dont seem to have that thewy just get slowed while casting thing with cast times from what ive seen.
mage has a lot of slows which can easly be transformed into freeze, and also have point and click slumber that allow to setup some deadly combo, but i dont think its a problem, every video of mage, every my pvp or pve encoutner with mages, it show mage as overtuned class, with shield they have 6k health, they deal insane single target and aoe damage, idk what more there is to say
its just an L take, mage is more tanky, AoE is very strong in pvp, its not just in corridors, im not sure why you think mage should have highest single target AND highest AoE damage, it just makes no sense and shows you are commenting in bad faith
"I honestly don't understand why in a post about Ranger feedback you're asking to nerf other classes."
Cuz buffing ranger is not a good play imo
Not bad faith, but the mage is a glass cannon, like in most MMOs. It needs to excel in both single-target (ST) and area-of-effect (AoE) top DPS. Additionally, the mage barrier has a long cooldown; once you lose it, you become extremely fragile, like paper.
current version of the game mages are less fragile than a ranger btw unless for what ever reason the mage doesnt take barrier.
You stripe down naked there like 200hp difference between the 2 classes by base stats allocation and since anyone can wear any armor type u can equal there defence mitigation.
yes i know some people will be like cloth armor better stat allocation which is probaly somewhat correct at current stage of game but not by the end of it there already alot of plate/leather designed for casters and there also cloth designed for fighters/rangers aswell its just not as common but as game.
ranger is also glass cannon, even more glass than mage due to mage's shield. And ranger really is lacking in aoe, which is fine, but as a tradeoff it should excel at st
Lvling to 25 I found that rangers aoe is decent at low levels but at 25 it scales extremely badly
Can also definitely agree, we need a defensive badly, it feels really bad having absolutely nothing
i mean, ranger AoE is fine imo, its just not very good in comparasion to mage or fighter, which is fine, ranger in not aoe class anyway
we also need.. well, not more damage, snipe can already take over half health, i guess we need more agency? rangers perform super poorly when they have someone in their, if we can free shot then we are fine, although still the fact that we have more or less equal or lower ST damage than mages is not good. But the moment someone puts a pressure on us, we are struggling to create any space, from what i saw ranger is the worst class in that sense
Definitely agree, I think they tried to make ranger mobile but in PvP it sort of fails, as soon as someone touches us even with disengage we can't build distance and at that point you need to choose weather you try and just Bline it to get away or choose to fight back with a 99% chance of dying.
Ranger really need to be able to kite and outplay in PvP but our 1 root doesn't cut it, every class can just immediately dispel it and it breaks after one arrow, we also have no hard cc ATM which sort of feels bad too
At level 25 you pretty much have everything so not really a build just situational
Completely agree. The snipe skill as it is right now has so many downsides that it would need to be a death sentence to anyone we manage to use it on to make it viable. That would make it pretty hilarious though!
Your points on the lack of a good core mechanic and spell/ability synergy match what I've been feeling as well. The existing mechanics feel a bit like it's been borrowed from other classes and then watered down.